And the correct decision, I believe (at least part of it; I’m not so sure about the part about making the parents pay—although if they don’t, the taxpayer will).
I have the following question: how would this case have been decided if it had occurred in a more liberal state than Texas?
As for what this says about the girl’s parents, it seems very sad to me that they would insist on her compromising her own integrity and beliefs, and try to coerce her to abort a child against her will. And it says something chilling about their own attitude towards their prospective grandchild.
I’ve written before on my own attitudes about abortion (especially here). And I do support the right of parents of minor children to have some control over those children. But the type of control these parents tried to exercise goes way too far and amounts to a form of abuse.
It’s interesting, though, to contemplate the opposite type of case, that in which the 16-year-old wants to have an abortion and the parents want to stop her from doing so. At what age should a teenager be able to make such decisions? And does it matter which decision she favors, and which the parents are trying to force her to accept?
And what of the father? Shouldn’t he have a say? Or should he?
[NOTE: Somewhat related post here.]